The First Hour - actionhttp://firsthour.net/taxonomy/term/2/0
enLuigi's Mansion: Dark Moonhttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/luigis-mansion-dark-moon
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/screenshots/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/luigis-mansion-dark-moon-banner.jpg" alt="Luigis Mansion Dark Moon Banner" title="Luigis Mansion Dark Moon Banner" height="200" width="800" /></p>
<p>Luigi has strangely found his niche in the Mario universe as the
ghostbusting, mansion tip-toeing brother. Why Nintendo and Shigeru
Miyamoto decided to make a GameCube tech demo out of a ghostly mansion
and then have it star Luigi may be a question for the ages, but 12 years
later we are here with its sequel, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi%27s_Mansion:_Dark_Moon"><strong>Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon</strong></a> for the
3DS.</p>
<p>It’s been a decade since I played the original Luigi’s
Mansion, but I remember it being a charming, if repetitive experience
highlighted by Charles Martinet’s incredible voicing of a freaked out
Luigi. With the Wii U in seemingly more need of quality software than
the 3DS, I’m surprised some tablet-utilizing version of Dark Moon didn’t
show up on the console, but the likelihood of me playing the portable
version is much higher, so I personally appreciate the 3DS release.
Let’s play.</p>
<p>Being a Nintendo game, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon opens with a long cutscene shot of one of the game’s mansions. Also being a Nintendo game, you cannot skip it. Why Nintendo insists over and over to include terribly lame, boring, and unnecessary opening cutscenes in their Mario games I will never understand. Chances are Peach is going to get kidnapped by a cake, you can include a cutscene when you finally have an original story.</p>
<p>This is followed up by a looooong conversation with Professor E. Gadd, who explains that the ghosts are angry again, or something (by this time I was just slamming on the A button to get to the action). You had better get used to talking to the Professor every 15 minutes or so, however, as the game is broken up into short missions that just cover a small part of a mansion.</p>
<p>I’m finally handed a flashlight and told to head towards the haunted mansion where the Poltergust 5000 is stored. Yes, the ghostbusting device is stored at the ghost-infested house, but luckily for Luigi, just inside the first room. After trying out the different suck techniques using the R trigger, I start clearing rooms of debris and money in search of those nasty ghosts.</p>
<p>But you can’t fight ghosts until you have a strobe light used to shock them temporarily, though that is nearby too. The early ghost battles are a welcome bit of action after walking around sucking up carpets and drapes, but are quite easy. It actually feels a bit like a fishing game, get your ghost in your suck radius and pull back, depleting its “hit points”.</p>
<p>As you complete your primary objective, you’re sent back to Professor E. Gadd’s lab for another conversation, then sent back to the exact same location with maybe a few more rooms available. It’s an odd design choice, forcing you through the same rooms over and over again, but I think it might be a good decision in the long run, as long as the chats with the Professor were minimized (which seems unlikely since he also calls you up to talk every five minutes, too). There’s an annoying side effect to this though: Dark Moon won’t checkpoint during a mission, so once you’ve made significant progress you had better complete the primary objective before turning off the system. Not the end of the world with the 3DS’s design, but one that caught me off guard when I took a break for lunch.</p>
<p>The graphics of the new Luigi’s Mansion look very good on the portable screens, there’s some nice lighting techniques with the flashlight, and the physics engine surprised me with its versatility when using the vacuum. The game is pretty dark though, and I spent about 15 minutes at one point trying to figure out what to do next when the solution was a little rope hanging in the corner of the room. Felt a bit like pixel hunting in a point and click adventure.</p>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 15</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> Yes, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is pretty simple fun, but the possibilities in the game excite me. There are definitely pacing issues with the constant chatter by Professor E. Gadd, but all I can hope is that his screentime is reduced as the game goes on.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/luigis-mansion-dark-moon-poltergust-5000.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/luigis-mansion-dark-moon-poltergust-5000.jpg" alt="Luigis Mansion Dark Moon Poltergust 5000" title="Luigis Mansion Dark Moon Poltergust 5000" class="image" height="375" width="630" /></a></div><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/luigis-mansion-dark-moon#commentsday 11luigis mansion dark moonluigis mansionmarioaction3dsWed, 10 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe764 at http://firsthour.netPrince of Persiahttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/prince-of-persia
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<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Prince of Persia</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/prince-of-persia/prince-of-persia-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/prince-of-persia/prince-of-persia-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Prince of Persia Cover" title="Prince of Persia Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, OSX</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Watercolored, ponderous action</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">No</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ASJIS6?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The success of <strong>Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time</strong> completely
rejuvenated a left for dead franchise. From a series that was known for
its challenging, timed gameplay, rose a 3D incarnation that was nearly
beloved by both the gaming press and gamers themselves. Setting the
gears in motion for <a href="/first-hour-review/prince-of-persia-warrior-within">sequels</a>, <a href="/first-hour-review/prince-of-persia-the-forgotten-sands">spinoffs</a>, and a <a href="/movie-review/prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time">movie</a>, The Sands of Time
was both a trendsetter for many future titles and an acknowledgement to
its roots.</p>
<p>A few years after its immediate trilogy sputtered off,
Ubisoft tried to remake the prince once again with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia_%282008_video_game%29"><strong>Prince of Persia</strong></a>, no
subtitle. Much like the <a href="/first-hour-review/ninja-gaiden-and-ninja-gaiden">NES <strong>Ninja Gaiden</strong> and the Xbox <strong>Ninja Gaiden</strong></a>,
Prince of Persia was annoyingly named the exact same as the original
game twenty years its predecessor. But if fans were expecting an even
closer imitation of the original, they would be quite surprised with the
bigger changes made by Ubisoft.</p>
<p>Prince of Persia (2008, not 1989)
received mixed reviews with attention to the excellent art and
animation, but some disdain towards the game’s reported simple
difficulty. What attracted me to reviewing the game’s first hour was
definitely the art style. Borrowing the watercolor look from <strong>Okami</strong> was
definitely a brave move by a generally conservative Ubisoft, and I am
hoping some of that creativity might have run over to the parkour and
fighting elements of the game. Let’s take a look.</p>
<h2>Minute by Minute</h2>
<p><span class="minute-counter">02</span> - After a way too over the top settings menu, the opening cutscene begins showing a very confusing set of characters saying things. It quickly cuts to our Prince pushing his way through a desert storm. He’s yelling for Farah, who leaps into his arms from above after being chased. Oh, that might not have been Farah.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">03</span> - My initial attempts at wall running are failing badly, shouldn’t this be second nature by now to this sort of game? I then enter one-on-one combat with a guard, I kind of like the battle system, requires keeping a close eye on what the enemy is doing. Ah, Farah is his donkey, the girl is Elika.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">08</span> - Our Prince sounds like Nolan North, have to check... Yep. Elika and I are now partners in search of a temple.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">11</span> - I fall to my death, or so I thought as Elika grabs me out of thin air to rescue me. The Prince is impressed, but incredulous. She also joins me in battle which makes for some pretty fights.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">17</span> - After a fight with Elika’s father, he chops down a tree with his sword which causes some demon to appear. Along with using my sword and gauntlet, I can also use Elika’s magic attacks by throwing her at enemies. She can also throw me so I can cover huge gaps.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">24</span> - I now have access to the world map and can choose my first destination out of four. I guess the left most one will do. Off to the Fertile Grounds.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/prince-of-persia/prince-of-persia-wall-run-wolverine-scratch.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/prince-of-persia/prince-of-persia-wall-run-wolverine-scratch-thumb.jpg" alt="Prince of Persia Wall run Wolverine Scratch" title="Prince of Persia Wall run Wolverine Scratch" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">33</span> - That didn’t take long for Prince of Persia to incorporate quick time events into the battle system.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">37</span> - Healed my first Fertile Ground, Elika can barely walk, she needs a Light Seed. I have 1 of 60. Okay, now they’re just all over, do I have to collect them all right now? I guess not.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">44</span> - Cute animations with Elika riding on the Prince’s back.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">48</span> - Another battle, another Fertile Ground healed.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">57</span> - Elika is captured by the Concubine, leaving me alone to try and rescue her on the Fertile Ground we’re standing on. After a somewhat laborious fight, I’m no closer to rescuing the girl or this Fertile Ground, but that’s the end of the first hour of Prince of Persia.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/prince-of-persia/prince-of-persia-elika-running.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/prince-of-persia/prince-of-persia-elika-running-thumb.jpg" alt="Prince of Persia Elika Running" title="Prince of Persia Elika Running" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<h3>First Hour Summary</h3>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 3</p>
<p>A pretty mixed bag of elements in the first hour of Prince of Persia. While the game is gorgeous and the blossoming relationship between the Prince and Elika is entertaining, most of the gameplay felt really basic. In Sands of Time, escaping from a room felt like a puzzle, where as this game drops any pretense of exploration and trial and error and replaces it with a linear path with obstacles in the way.</p>
<p>There’s nothing really wrong with this change in tactics, but it just isn’t executed very well. The controls feel sloppy when trying to wall run and a few of the Elika-assisted moves seem a bit too powerful, as in tossing the Prince a hundred feet through the air as the level dictates. I do like what I’ve seen so far from the combat engine, but there are so few fights I’m afraid the game thinks its own fighting will get stale if it sets up too many encounters.</p>
<p>And while I noted the fighting has <a href="/blog/the-qte-plague-what-hath-god-of-war-wrought">quick time events</a> in it, there’s a safe argument to be had that many of gameplay elements are just one long QTE, too. There are portions where you’re literally just hopping from one wall to the next for nearly a minute on end and one wrong press of the button results in death (or near death, thanks to Elika). Once again, not necessarily a bad thing, but it just seems weak compared to the Sands of Time series which focused on small bursts of intricate moves instead of stringing out single button presses.</p>
<p><strong>Bias</strong>: I’m a big fan of The Sands of Time, but that may end up counting more against this Prince of Persia iteration over everything else.</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> No. While I only explored a few Fertile Grounds, I really feel like I have a handle on how the rest of the game will play out. While Prince of Persia was feeling adventurous in its art style, everything else has been done before, and better.</p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/prince-of-persia#commentsday 11prince of persiaprince of persiaactionadventureosxps3windowsxbox 360Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe722 at http://firsthour.netDishonoredhttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/dishonored
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<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Dishonored</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Dishonored Cover" title="Dishonored Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">
<p>Steampunk<br /> sword-jockey</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">2</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005C2D2MO?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Dishonored</strong>, the new property published by Bethesda (<a href="/first-hour-review/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim"><strong>The Elder
Scrolls</strong></a>; <a href="/first-hour-review/fallout-3"><strong>Fallout</strong></a>) and developed by Arkane Studios (<strong>Dark Mesiah</strong>; <a href="/first-hour-review/bioshock-2"><strong>Bioshock
2</strong></a>), is a brave and original story looking to enter into a decaying
console cycle – the time when the sequel and spinoff reign supreme. It
has to be said, the sights are firm and the course is true; Dishonored
is looking to contend for Game of the Year status – and so it should.
Arkane Studios has talent from across the globe, and a laundry list of
prior experience. From <a href="/first-hour-review/bioshock"><strong>Bioshock</strong></a> to <a href="/first-hour-review/half-life-2"><strong>Half-Life 2</strong></a> to <a href="/first-hour-review/deus-ex-human-revolution"><strong>Deus Ex</strong></a>, and many
more, Arkane’s capability holds great repute.</p>
<p>Dishonored sets off
to be the spiritual successor to the very franchises that inspired it
and you would be hard-pressed to find a reason why it does not fit the
bill. At its core, Dishonored is a first-person stealth action game. You
are able to sneak around quietly, hit confrontation head-on, or some
other combination of the two. The level of freedom here is something
that would make any long-time Deus Ex fan smile. It’s not just about the
gameplay, though – the level of presentation on display is top notch. </p>
<p>Before
getting into the review-proper, I want to touch on the design and
visual presentation; its uniqueness begs prying eyes to observe.
Dunwall, the city setting in Dishonored, is designed by the very same
man who imagined City 17 in Half-Life 2. Visually, I get the sensation
that Arkane started with something relatively gritty, and then moved the
entire art-style in the direction of pastel and caricature. It’s just
utterly dripping with style and brave design choices. The character
design in particular is especially reminiscent of old political cartoon
artwork, with all the exaggerated features necessary to convey a
character without words.</p>
<p>Now, it’s not all sunshine and roses when
it comes to the presentation. There are elements of the game that feel
somewhat dated. While the character design is a pure joy of originality,
the animations leave something to be desired. I’m never left with the
sensation that these are alive, even for a moment. There’s also not much
in the way of post-effects being leveraged. You have god-rays, dynamic
shadows, and that’s about it. And while the artwork is incredibly
balanced and fitting to itself, I found myself reaching for my video
card’s anti-aliasing controls in short order just to get everything to
sit better with the art style. Neither the MLAA or FXAA solutions quite
cut it – the jaggies on display just detracted from the pastel effect.</p>
<p>So, full disclosure: this is not exactly a first-hour review. Instead, knowing myself and how methodically I play these types of games, I gave myself until the end of the first mission-proper (tutorial and exposition aside) before coming here to lend my impressions. The version I’m playing is the PC release, and so far as I can tell, the game itself was designed for a console with minimal adjustments to the UI made for the port. If you’re interested in evaluating console performance and playability, please refer to <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dishonored-face-off">Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry Face-Off</a>.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-dunwall-skyline-castles.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-dunwall-skyline-castles-thumb.jpg" alt="Dishonored Dunwall Skyline Castles" title="Dishonored Dunwall Skyline Castles" width="800" height="450" class="image" /></a></div>
<p>I was pleasantly surprised at just how quickly Dishonored loaded the first time (and every subsequent time)*, even on my modest PC (as referenced in my <a href="/editorial/this-generation-is-over">editorial</a> including the PC version of Alan Wake). One thing that definitely took me off guard was learning that it was an Unreal Engine title. Based on the limited screenshots and gameplay footage I had seen, I was almost going to accuse the Source engine of being behind this; this is especially when you consider Arkane’s work on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Messiah_of_Might_and_Magic">Dark Mesiah: Might and Magic</a>, which is a Source game. Once in the menu, things get familiar – there’s a lovely 3D backdrop that swings around to reveal the main menu. I, as I normally do, took a moment to play with the in-game settings, which were blissfully simple and intuitive. Honestly, they could have just put a big slider for “Ugly &lt;-&gt; Pretty” and everything would have worked out just fine. Selecting “New Game” presents you with a difficulty selection, given in four, and then a brightness slider. That’s it, we’re loading. And we’re done. Whether it’s indicative of an aging design, or ruthless optimization, this game loads incredibly fast.</p>
<p>The first thing I see is two men in front of me on a small boat. Apparently we’re being dropped off of a larger ship in order to head into the city. The more talkative of the two addresses me as “Corvo, the Lord Protector.” Very quickly I gather that Corvo is something of a one-man security force working directly for the Empress.&nbsp; He’s been away for two months attempting to make contact with nearby cities. There’s a plague on, and nobody knows how to stop it. The small boat enters something of a warehouse on the water. It’s a water elevator – we’re being raised up to the royal court. I have to say, I’m loving the steampunk feel I’m getting off of Dishonored already.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-empress-daughter-emily-dunwall.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-empress-daughter-emily-dunwall-thumb.jpg" alt="Dishonored Empress Daughter Emily Dunwall" title="Dishonored Empress Daughter Emily Dunwall" width="800" height="450" class="image" /></a></div>
<p>Only two minutes in, and I’m given control of something other than the camera. A young girl comes to meet me – the daughter of the Empress. Apparently her and Corvo are quite close. At this point I get my first dialogue choice: play hide and seek, or go see mother. I choose to go see mother, and after a couple secondary character introductions, I find myself up at a gazebo overhearing the Empress tell an aid that she will do whatever she can to save each and every one of her citizens from the plague. Upon his departure, Corvo delivers a letter stating that the other cities aren’t helping, but rather are going to blockade Dunwall. Then it really hits the fan. Assassins appear, I fight them off, but the Empress ends up dead. Corvo is framed. Enter the title card.</p>
<p>It may be almost industry standard, but the presentation made for an effective cold open – about 12 minutes in total. This is the tone, you’re a respected man who gets framed for a murder he’d never commit, and spends 6-months between torture and his cell awaiting execution – until someone slips you a key. I have to admit to having the odd <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Riddick:_Escape_from_Butcher_Bay"><strong>Escape from Butcher Bay</strong></a> flashback during the prison-break segment. Of course, this is where we start to see the mechanics in the game; see what it’s really made of. The best way I can describe it is: “jack of all trades.” Everything works, even if the individual parts aren’t taken to their natural conclusion. The shadow skulking isn’t at the apex of Sam Fisher slinking, and the action isn’t at the apex of Riddick badassery, but everything feels genuinely solid. Beyond solid – it feels intuitive. It’s very rare for a game with a heavy stealth mechanic to be able to slip into balls-out action with such deftness.</p>
<p>To add to the action, Dishonored sports a basic upgrade and power system to help bring some spunk into the replay value of what is essentially a linear game. Fans of Bioshock will feel right at home with this concept. Right off the top, I found Blink and Shadow Kill to be the most useful. The former allows you to teleport yourself over short distances, and the latter ensures that corpses clean themselves up if stealth killed. Of course, this is not the limit of the powers on display; other tasty entries include the ability possess living creatures (and later people), and what is essentially a force-push.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-traitorous-bad-guys-sword-gun.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-traitorous-bad-guys-sword-gun-thumb.jpg" alt="Dishonored Traitorous bad Guys Sword gun" title="Dishonored Traitorous bad Guys Sword gun" width="800" height="450" class="image" /></a></div>
<p>Though Dishonored is not an open world game, there is still plenty of side work that can be done during the various levels. The best comparison is probably the instance-based gameplay of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Unlike Human Revolution, though, the levels more akin to the slab design of something like <a href="/first-hour-review/hitman-blood-money"><strong>Hitman: Blood Money</strong></a>. You’re given an insertion point and then kindly asked to carry out your objectives as you see fit. The brilliance of this is allowing free-flowing gameplay, but without the unnecessary bog that most open world games suffer from; it stays focused. </p>
<p>I did happen upon a few bugs during my play, but it was certainly not anything that broke the experience. Ragdolls seem to be the worst culprit at this time (hang tight for patches). Occasionally they’ll get caught on props, or even in the terrain. More than once I had corpses cull mere seconds after hitting the ground. Blink can be a bit touchy to land in a pinch, especially during vertical travel. And the AI – I’m not sure it’s a bug, but the enemy AI seems to be incredibly forgetful. They can be easily baffled by a quick emergency blink, or the shutting of a door. Counter-intuitively, shadows are far less likely to baffle them. At the end of the day, however, these are relatively minor gripes that rarely break the experience, and the disappearing corpses will likely be patched in short order.</p>
<p>With new intellectual properties, you’re never sure exactly to expect. Some of them turn out to be duds, and many are fantastic and original pieces of design. Unfortunately, it gets harder and harder to try out these new properties with the cost of games, and the steady stream of “guaranteed content.” With Dishonored, a game on I wasn’t aware of until E3 2012, the game lives up to the image it had created for itself in the media. I’m a ways off from finishing the game, and I feel like I’ve seen most of what the gameplay has to offer – I just don’t seem to care. What’s here is so wonderfully solid that I’m just looking forward to my next chance to play.</p>
<p>Dishonored doesn’t just succeed as a new IP, or as a straggler at the end of a generation. Dishonored is a momentous success full stop.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-bad-guys-dressed-up.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/dishonored/dishonored-bad-guys-dressed-up-thumb.jpg" alt="Dishonored bad Guys Dressed up" title="Dishonored bad Guys Dressed up" width="800" height="450" class="image" /></a></div>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 2</p>
<p><strong>Summary</strong>: Dishonored is a brave and beautifully imagined property that manages succeed even where the first installments of today's biggest franchises failed, both visually and functionally. It may pull its life-blood from the likes of Half-Life, Bioshock, Deus Ex and Hitman, but if ever there was a group of franchises you'd want to emulate, that would be the list; and even at that it manages to feel packed with originality and top-notch design.</p>
<p><strong>Would You Keep Playing?</strong> Yes. &nbsp;If you have to ask, you didn’t read the review.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>*I wanted to add that although the loading times are very fast, the game has an irritating “Press Any Key to Continue” interrupt. Most times I found I was failing to notice the button for longer than it took to actually load. There’s good news though, because PC players can make a very simple .ini tweak to correct this and allow loading to proceed automatically. DishonoredEngine.ini is located in: Documents/My Games/Dishonored/DishonoredGame/Config. Change the line (at the bottom) “<span style="font-family: courier new,courier;">bAlwaysAutoStart=</span>” to true. Loading screens will now proceed automatically.</p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/dishonored#commentsday 11dishonoreddishonoredactionstealthps3windowsxbox 360Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000Tyler Smith720 at http://firsthour.netSaints Row: The Thirdhttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/saints-row-the-third
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--break-->
<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Saints Row: The Third</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/saints-row-the-third/saints-row-the-third-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/saints-row-the-third/saints-row-the-third-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Saints Row: The Third Cover" title="Saints Row: The Third Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Even more of everything</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">8</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QEWVLC?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><a href="/first-hour-review/saints-row-2"><strong>Saints Row 2</strong></a> was already over the top. After an epic prison bust you
then shoot up a courthouse and spray poop on rich people’s homes. It was
crazy and pretty fun, and seemed worth playing beyond the first hour
just to see what the developers could cook up.</p>
<p>Volition wanted to
go bigger though, so they made <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Row:_The_Third"><strong>Saints Row: The Third</strong></a>. Within days of
release, the game was already famous for one of its weapons: The
Penetrator, a giant purple dildo with realistic... dildo physics. But
from my time with the game, I can promise you they really went to town
with an adrenaline-pumping, action set-piece heavy first hour that
simply blows the offerings Saints Row 2 put up.</p>
<p>So let’s take a
look at the first hour of Saints Row: The Third, with this hour’s minute
by minute section being sponsored by the absurdity of Volition,
highlighting the crazy levels the game goes beyond even its predecessor.</p>
<h2>Bigger and Better</h2>
<p><span class="minute-counter">00</span> - If you want to go big, you start with a Star Wars text crawl and the music <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Also_sprach_Zarathustra_%28Strauss%29">Also Sprach Zarathustra</a> made famous in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Third Street Saints are now a media empire, having conquered the street they now own your wallet. They even have their own drink!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">03</span> - Big-headed masks of yourself are also a good way to go big! Johnny Gat from Saints Row 2 and some other gang members are all robbing a bank wearing this outrageous get-up.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">08</span> - We blow some walls up exposing a safe but need to wait for a helicopter.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“How long until the chopper gets here?”</p>
<p>“I dunno, probably two waves of SWAT guys.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What follows is an extended shooting sequence where I ride the vault out of the bank being carried by the helicopter. I’m basically invincible and lots of thing go boom: fun!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">15</span> - I can now customize my character, similar options to Saints Row 2 with taunts, compliments, and the whole look. I leave most of the defaults.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">17</span> - We’ve been captured by some Belgian who wants to own our media empire. Johnny Gat does not like his negotiation tactics and a firefight breaks out on his airplane. Sounds safe. We dash through the cargo bay and parachute out, but it sounds like from an intercom chat that Johnny sacrificed himself for us.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/saints-row-the-third/saints-row-the-third-johnny-gat-big-head-bank-heist.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/saints-row-the-third/saints-row-the-third-johnny-gat-big-head-bank-heist-thumb.jpg" alt="Saints row the Third Johnny gat big Head Bank Heist" title="Saints row the Third Johnny gat big Head Bank Heist" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">24</span> - We’re skydiving now, shooting down bad guys, and then to illustrate how crazy this game is, I dive through a plane that was trying to ram us, travel all the way through it kicking ass on the way, and fly out the other size. All right, that part was in a cutscene, but it looked cool. After another descent full of shooting, I catch the girl for a second time.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">30</span> - Driving around town now, our bank accounts have been wiped, so it’s back to square one, of course.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">45</span> - We break into a huge weapons cache, kill a ton of soldiers, take over a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and shoot tanks in the middle of the city from 10,000 feet <a href="/first-hour-review/call-of-duty-4"><strong>Modern Warfare</strong></a> style. Then we hop on some helicopters and shoot a ton more down.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">50</span> - Out on the street now checking out properties. I call up Pierce and initiate a mission, just need to get there. End up taking the car into a lake and I can warp to shore.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">55</span> - Driving around town with Pierce creates some hilarious conversations and radio sing-alongs. “Love... is what I got.” I decide to just sit in the car and listen to them sing.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/saints-row-the-third/saints-row-the-third-skydiving-explosions.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/saints-row-the-third/saints-row-the-third-skydiving-explosions-thumb.jpg" alt="Saints row the Third Skydiving Explosions" title="Saints row the Third Skydiving Explosions" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<h2>First Hour Summary</h2>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 8</p>
<p>Well, that was a blast. Volition certainly knows how to start a game. Saints Row 3 features some great comedic writing and pretty well crafted shooting sequences. Most games would be happy with just one of the big moments The Third features, but we get all three with bank bust, freefalling, and raining hell from the UAV. No complaints here in lack of content or entertainment.</p>
<p>While the game feels remarkably similar to Saints Row 2, I feel like the controls are more standard third-person shooter now, which is nice. The second game had some quirks, it wasn’t a big deal on their own, but just seemed a bit off in ways you couldn’t say unless you looked at how all the buttons were mapped out. Thankfully, The Third fixes what was “broken” and we can move on without glancing down at our controller.</p>
<p><strong>Bias</strong>: Much like with Saints Row 2, I don’t have strong opinions about the series, but the sandbox genre hasn’t really perfectly triggered with me since <strong>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</strong>. I’ve played plenty of good and great games like <a href="/first-hour-review/saboteur"><strong>The Saboteur</strong></a> and <a href="/first-hour-review/infamous"><strong>Infamous</strong></a>, but those never really elevated themselves above the genre in major ways like the final PS2 GTA game did. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m even looking for another San Andreas, so what am I complaining about?</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> Yes, this was a great start to what promises to be an insane game. Almost seems to make my “yes” to continuing Saints Row 2 a moot point when Saints Row: The Third exists.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iekwNgXSklA" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe></p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/saints-row-the-third#commentsday 11saints row the thirdsaints rowactionsandboxps3windowsxbox 360Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe715 at http://firsthour.netSleeping Dogshttp://firsthour.net/full-review/sleeping-dogs
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--break-->
<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Sleeping Dogs</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Sleeping Dogs Cover" title="Sleeping Dogs Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Don’t cross the line, pig</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Score</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">8.5&nbsp; <img src="/sites/default/files/images/clocks/infobox-score-8.png" alt="Clock score of 8" style="vertical-align: bottom;" /></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076ZPYPI?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I like freedom in games. That being said, I love open world games-the
ability to run around a virtual world, doing missions whenever I please,
and I will give any open-world sandbox game a chance, from <strong>Toy Story</strong> to
<a href="/first-hour-review/saints-row-2"><strong> Saints Row</strong></a>. I fondly remember the “undercover cop” GTA rip-off <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Crime:_Streets_of_LA"><strong>True
Crime</strong></a> series so ridiculous it was almost hard to take serious about ten
years ago-yeah, the one that let you play as Snoop Dog. I soon found
out that <strong>Sleeping Dogs</strong>, seemingly released out of nowhere this month, was
the once-titled <strong>True Crime: Hong Kong</strong>, only having changed names due to
legal reasons after switching publishers from Activision to Square Enix.
While it may have once belonged in a line of True Crime games, TRUST
ME - In no way, shape, or form is this anything like what I remember the
True Crime series being like. (In a good way.)
</p>
<p>With Square Enix’s reboot, remastering and renaming of the True
Crime franchise, now Sleeping Dogs, they have tooled what could prove
to be one of the biggest surprise smash hits this year with tight
gameplay all around and with a story more compelling than most of
Rockstar or THQ’s gangster tales have ever felt. Here is my review of Sleeping Dogs for Xbox 360.</p>
<p>In Dogs you play as Wei Shen, a cop in Hong Kong who has gone under cover into a triad gang called the Sun On Yee. For the most part, the game plays just like a <a href="/first-hour-review/grand-theft-auto-4"><strong>Grand Theft Auto</strong></a> or Saints Row game: third person, mini-map on the lower left hand of the screen, hijack cars or call a cab to get around, complete missions and side missions whenever you want, etc. Just like in those games, there are plenty of things on the side to do to keep you busy like taking girls on dates, buying new outfits and cars, playing poker mahjong, betting on cock fights, hacking security cameras around the city so you can bust drug dealers, or any number of other activities you can get involved in around town. Creating a virtual Hong Kong is something the creators of this game really did well, whether it’s the bustling crazy traffic in the congested twisty streets or the way that everyone talks in half-english/half-chinese, the atmosphere is really pulled off amazingly. Something that doesn’t hurt is the voice acting, talent that is top-notch thanks to the help from the likes of heavy hitters like Lucy Liu and Emma Stone in the mix. The story those voices are telling you is actually something you’ll want to hear also, as the deeper into cover Wei gets, the more and more intense it gets, and the relationship of him as a cop and being a Triad at the same time, and the writing makes it a story and relationship that you actually get really involved in, something I thoroughly enjoyed and found rare in games’ stories today.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-i-know-kung-fu.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-i-know-kung-fu-thumb.jpg" alt="Sleeping Dogs i Know Kung fu" title="Sleeping Dogs i Know Kung fu" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<h3>Guns? Who needs guns!?</h3>
<p>Another aspect where this game really stands out is the combat. You can always find the rare hand gun scrounging around in the game, but guns and anyone-you or your enemy using them is never really prevalent until about three fourths of the way into the game-until then you will be using good old-fashioned hand-to-hand martial arts. For me, this is one of the parts where the game really shines. Rather than feeling like you’re just going through hundreds and hundreds of enemies like they’re nothing to you-like in most games, each individual enemy requires unique button presses, and combinations to put into special attacks to take them down. Every time I got through with a rival group of gang members, or an enemy boss I felt a real sense of achievement that I don’t seem to find anymore just by shooting senseless rounds into the enemy. The combat system feels a lot like that from the latest Batman games-only a bit more intricate once you start earning upgrades and extra moves that require extra button strikes. Something else I found maybe not unique-yet altogether exquisitely and thrillingly pulled off-is the use of environment in Sleeping Dogs’ combat- in every fight you will find plenty of phone booths to shove people in, air conditioning fans to cut peoples heads off in, and dozens more creative and altogether fantastical ways to carnage opponents using your environment.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-car-leap-of-faith.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-car-leap-of-faith-thumb.jpg" alt="Sleeping Dogs car Leap of Faith" title="Sleeping Dogs car Leap of Faith" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<h3>Speed please</h3>
<p>Something that contrasts perhaps just as well with the hand-to-hand combat is the controls in-vehicle. For a couple missions you need to get inside the underground street racing racket, and afterwards racing becomes an extra activity you can do on the side, and the racing feels perfect, the handbrake drifting is tight and feels varied just right between the different types of cars, and the competition is very stiff yet fair, keeping in check I was always at my A+ game before I could come out with a win. The racing is a good time and a great way to earn fast cash, but what impressed me the most with the game’s driving mechanics was the different offensive maneuvers you can perform while in a car. If you ever catch heat from the cops, or find yourself in one of the many high speed pursuits that exist in the game, all you have to do to ram the vehicle with great force is press the analog stick in the direction you want to ram and press a button. Now, this may not seem like much, but when both of you are going 100-something miles an hour, swerving back and forth and you manage to ram them a few times you cause their car to explode, flying backward in a tailspin of smoke. Trust me, it’s a thrill.</p>
<p>Another thing that Sleeping Dogs got right about car combat is shooting out the window of a car and driving at the same time- I cannot name how many games I have been in a car chase and stuck my head out the window, tried to shoot something and things just go awry - either I pull off into a wall where I’m trying to aim, my foot simply lets off the gas, or some other frustrating thing like that happens. Well, in Sleeping Dogs, no such thing, while chasing other cars, this is one of the few times in the game where you actually do get access to firepower and I was pleased to find that everything is pulled off with pure bliss - shooting while driving while steering - and I must admit, it is a blast.</p>
<p>The final aspect that really stood out to me about Dogs’ driving is that they give you the ability to do something I find really cool, something that I’ve only ever seen in one game before (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pursuit_Force:_Extreme_Justice"><strong>Pursuit Force</strong></a> for PSP)- that is the ability to jump from the car you are driving to the top of the car in front of you while it is still driving, and hijack it-all while both of these cars are still moving. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to do that?</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-triad-ladies-car.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/sleeping-dogs/sleeping-dogs-triad-ladies-car-thumb.jpg" alt="Sleeping Dogs Triad Ladies car" title="Sleeping Dogs Triad Ladies car" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<h3>Working both sides</h3>
<p>The meat of the game is found in the missions-missions can be started whenever you chose to go up to the icon on found, located on the map, and are divided into either Cop or Triad missions. Cop missions are usually things like planting bugs on phone lines to help your handler get closer to busting some drug dealer or taking pictures of evidence of a murder you have just witnessed so that the murderer can be arrested. Triad missions can range anywhere from surviving a hazing initiation into the gang, to setting some misguided brother triads straight... with a knife, all in a day’s work when you’re playing as undercover Officer Wei Shen, something I found a complete and total blast for the entire 20-something hours it took me to complete Sleeping Dogs.</p>
<h3>Overall: 8.5</h3>
<p>Clocking in at just about a day, Dogs defiantly doesn’t even come close to the longest game, but I did finish with plenty of side missions left to play, and everything that is there is absolutely phenomenal. They have also promised at least six months more of DLC, something I am much looking forward to.</p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/full-review/sleeping-dogs#commentssleeping dogssleeping dogstrue crimeactionsandboxps3windowsxbox 3608.5Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:00:00 +0000Tyler James Braatz705 at http://firsthour.netSaints Row 2http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/saints-row-2
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--break-->
<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Saints Row 2</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/saints-row-2/saints-row-2-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/saints-row-2/saints-row-2-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Saints Row 2 Cover" title="Saints Row 2 Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">One hour gangster</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">7</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DZ4IL4?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Without Rockstar Games and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_III"><strong>Grand Theft Auto III</strong></a>, we wouldn’t have<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs_%28video_game%29"> <strong>
Sleeping Dogs</strong></a>, <a href="/first-hour-review/saboteur"><strong>The Saboteur</strong></a>, and possibly dozens of other
series, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Row_%28series%29"><strong>Saints Row</strong></a>. But whereas <a href="/first-hour-review/grand-theft-auto-4"><strong>Grand Theft Auto IV</strong></a> upped the
realism to aggravating levels (managing relationships and awful driving
are the worst offenders), Saints Row has descended further and further
into insanity, basically delivering the same sandbox joy that GTA III, <strong>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto:_Vice_City">Vice City</a></strong>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto:_San_Andreas"><strong>San Andreas</strong></a> were known for.</p>
<p>I’ve never played the
original Saints Row, and while <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Row_2"><strong>Saints Row 2</strong></a> seems to continue directly
off from the first game, I’m guessing I’ll be able to jump into the
gangster-filled world with ease. I’ve heard tons of great things about
the third game recently, but the second one flew under my radar, so I’m
not exactly sure what to expect.</p>
<p>Here’s the first hour of Saints Row 2 for the PlayStation 3.</p>
<h2>Gang Bangin’ Minutes</h2>
<p>I’ve been mixing up the format of this for the last few weeks, and Nate recently suggested we have sort of a theme for each game. For example, Space Marine’s notable minutes simply featured all the dorky quotes I heard. I like this idea even more than just straight up describing the important bits.</p>
<p>Saint Row 2’s first hour is pretty insane, so I’d like to present the events as candidly as possible, hopefully juxtaposing the craziness.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">02</span> - Wake up from a multi-year coma.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">03</span> - Fix my hair and makeup.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">07</span> - Kill doctor.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">09</span> - Begin prison escape.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">11</span> - Kill guards.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">13</span> - Steal cop car.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">14</span> - Steal boat.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">15</span> - Shoot down helicopters with gatling gun.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/saints-row-2/saints-row-2-prison-escape.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/saints-row-2/saints-row-2-prison-escape.jpg" alt="Saints row 2 Prison Escape" title="Saints row 2 Prison Escape" class="image" height="450" width="800" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">17</span> - Read newspaper headline: “Coma victim wakes up, kills way to freedom.”</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">22</span> - Begin rescue of friend who is about to be convicted of 300 counts of murder.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">30</span> - Kill shotgun-wielding judge.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">37</span> - Pour out a 40 over my dead friend to revive him.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">40</span> - Read newspaper headline: “Gat found guilty, still goes free.”</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">50</span> - Sprayed septic tank juice on some mansions.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">55</span> - Showered mobile homes with excrement.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">60</span> - Gave some beach houses a feces fountain.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/saints-row-2/saints-row-2-septic-avenger-mansion.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/saints-row-2/saints-row-2-septic-avenger-mansion.jpg" alt="Saints row 2 Septic Avenger Mansion" title="Saints row 2 Septic Avenger Mansion" class="image" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<h2>First Hour Summary</h2>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 7</p>
<p>You can’t say that Saints Row 2 doesn’t deliver on the early action. The immediate prison escape with exploding helicopters and boats leads to a courtroom shootout and tops it all off with me shooting literal crap at houses around town. Ridiculous barely describes the first hour of Saints Row 2.</p>
<p>While a few of the buttons felt “off” from what a standard sandbox action game would provide, I was pleased with how in control I felt with a gun in my hand. Aiming was downright perfect in Saints Row 2, and I had seemingly unparalleled control over the reticle. I’m not sure if auto-aiming was working very subtly or if I was just totally in the zone, but usually shooting can be a huge pain point in a Grand Theft Auto type of game. At least it has been in... every Grand Theft Auto game.</p>
<p>Driving in a new city like this can be a chore, but Saint Row 2’s mini-map was very helpful, blinking on what streets I should turn on to is a huge plus. I was surprised with the amount of driving involved this early in the game, and experienced a few annoying points where I destroyed my car on a bridge and absolutely zero other cars showed up for minutes, forcing me to foot it. Pretty annoying when I wanted to keep moving.</p>
<p>The courtroom level had me questioning whether my character even had a health bar, as I was rolling through there like Rambo. Police and guards were getting mowed down at every turn but I never felt threatened at all. In some ways, I don’t mind, some of Grand Theft Auto’s missions were obnoxious in how much you had to babysit your health, but a little life drain can go a long way in creating a challenge. This isn’t to say I did not have a lot of fun mowing down baddies, I had a blast.</p>
<p>But after the courtroom, I felt like the narrative abandoned me for a while. The game tossed me into the city with a billion icons to explore but no real direction. I was told to do something, okay, but shouldn’t someone be bugging me about the next mission too? Turns out, the game wanted me to try one of the little icons out, or a few of them. I’m honestly not totally on board with this and feel like a game should take a bit more control early on.</p>
<p><strong>Bias</strong>: I don’t like the direction Grand Theft Auto has taken, so playing a game like Saints Row 2 is rather exciting.</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> Yes, this may just be the craziness I need in my life right now. But squirting poop also reminds me a lot of raising children.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ECI4dalp4KA" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/saints-row-2#commentsday 11saints row 2saints rowactionsandboxps3windowsxbox 360Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe699 at http://firsthour.netSuperman 64http://firsthour.net/clocking-out/superman-64
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--break--><a href="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-cover.jpg" alt="Superman 64 Cover" title="Superman 64 Cover" style="float: right;" class="cover_image_no_infobox" height="221" width="320" /></a>In the world of awful games, one title will often be raised: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_%281999_video_game%29"><strong>Superman
64</strong></a>. You'll often hear about its terrible graphics or awful controls, but up
until today, I had never been subjected to it. I was tasked to see how
long I could play it before I couldn’t take it anymore.
<p><strong>Clocking Out is our new feature</strong> which pits one of our writers against a bad game and sees how long they can last. It's a test of endurance, willpower,
and foolhardiness. There have been first hours in the past where our
writers wanted to give up before it was over, but now they can admit
defeat and clock out whenever they'd like.</p>
<p>When I first boot up Superman 64, I’m greeted with a Super Mario-esque 3D splash screen of Superman’s chest and logo. After this point I’m reminded to insert a Controller Pak if I want to save. Wait, a Controller Pak? Well, there has to be something substantial here if there’s no room to save my game on the cart.</p>
<p>Alright, I choose to continue without saving and get on with it. The main menu is a typical sort of thing – a list of options ranging from New Game to Options and also a Practice mode. I’m not sure what the latter is for, but no matter. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.</p>
<p>New Game.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-lex-luthor-lois-lane-welcome.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-lex-luthor-lois-lane-welcome.jpg" alt="Superman 64 lex Luthor Lois Lane Welcome" title="Superman 64 lex Luthor Lois Lane Welcome" class="image" height="369" width="600" /></a></div>
<p>On the positive side, the introduction cinematic lasts less than twenty seconds total. I definitely can’t take points off for minutes to action.</p>
<p>Here we go! Wait a second… Something’s not right here. I have to solve a maze in order to save my friends? What’s this about? No matter, it’s probably training. After taking a second to familiarize myself with the controls, I get to it. My task is to fly through this course of Stargates to get to the end…</p>
<p>...Several times. The controls are utterly atrocious. Who knows though, maybe when I’m done this I’ll get to punch some people and do some awesome Superman stuff? I fail twice, and then manage to get to a new section. I have to stop the cars from hitting pedestrians, in a virtual world? You’ve got to be kidding me. With only a few seconds to even figure out what to do, I promptly lose.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-start-game-solve-maze.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-start-game-solve-maze.jpg" alt="Superman 64 Start Game Solve Maze" title="Superman 64 Start Game Solve Maze" class="image" height="374" width="600" /></a></div>
<p>Of course, I don’t get to continue from where I was at, I have to start the god damn Stargate track again. Four more attempts at the Stargates go by and I’m starting to get pretty irritated. Sometimes I lose after missing three gates, sometimes I lose after five. This is completely ****ing arbitrary. Finally I decide to open the menu and see what I’m missing. There’s an option for “Story / Controls.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Lex Luthor trapped Lois, Jimmy, and Prof. Hamilton in a virtual world.<br />Superman has no choice but to enter this world to rescue his friends."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The controls, in order of appearance:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Take off, land with Z.<br />Accelerate with B, break[sic] with R.<br />Grab with B.<br />Throw, punch with A.<br />Read the last text with L.<br />Resume texts with B.<br />Use freezing breath with UP C<br />Use head vision with LEFT C<br />Use X-Ray vision with RIGHT C<br />Activate events with B.<br />Press DOWN C to guard.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m starting to hear the other shoe drop. I don’t even get a nice control diagram, it’s simply been written out stream of consciousness by some idiot that doesn’t know the difference between break and brake. Whatever, I’ll keep going. What’s the worst that can happen? </p>
<p>After failing at the Stargate maze two more times, I finally reach the cars. “Now I’m armed with the official controls,” I think to myself. “Maybe I should land to deal with this!” Nope. The game gives me all of its nopes as Superman proceeds to have seizure. This wasn’t the worst part though, apparently I lost due to an arbitrary ****ing time limit, because this is my Game Over screen:</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-lex-luthor-wins-game-over.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-lex-luthor-wins-game-over.jpg" alt="Superman 64 lex Luthor Wins Game Over" title="Superman 64 lex Luthor Wins Game Over" class="image" height="373" width="600" /></a></div>
<p>The guy wasn’t even hit by the car! **** you Superman. **** you Lex. I’m going to kick both of your asses.</p>
<p>Back to the Stargates...</p>
<p>Next time I lose trying to fly to the cars. I’m going to quit – I’m going to. Wait! I get to resume from the cars now? How ****ing arbitrary is that? Whatever, I don’t have to do the Stargate maze again. Thank god for that.</p>
<p>I win! I saved the idiot pedestrians in the virtual world! Holy **** I’m awesome.</p>
<p>“Luthor: If you want to save your friends, solve my maze!”</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-flying-through-rings-stargates.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-flying-through-rings-stargates.jpg" alt="Superman 64 Flying Through Rings Stargates" title="Superman 64 Flying Through Rings Stargates" class="image" height="369" width="600" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The shoe is firmly resting on the ground.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span></div>
<p>**** you. Why do I have to do another god damn run of ****ing Stargates. Does Lex Luthor just have a boner for making Superman fly through flying rings? Is this his evil plan? They aren’t even made out of ****ing Kryptonite! I lose this one another four times due to the ***** controls. ****. Finally I beat this thing, I can move on!</p>
<p>No. The next section tasks me with save this police cruiser that’s being shot at with Bazookas. What does this have to do with saving Lois (because, you know, **** the other two)? Nothing, it has nothing to do with it. Whatever, Lex is a moron, I’ll save this car. Oh wait, you pick things up automatically and the action button just throws the car, so I threw it on the ground.</p>
<p>**** you Mr. Officer. **** you Superman. **** you Lex. **** you Lois – don’t get yourself digitized next time, because if I see another ****ing cock ring covered in stars, I’ll kill you myself. You win game. You win. If your objective was to make me hate you, you succeeded.</p>
<p>I can’t even be bothered to deride it for the awful graphics and the terrible heads up display.</p>
<p>**** off Superman 64.</p>
<p><strong>Clocked out after 16 minutes.</strong> I just couldn’t take it anymore. I honestly had more fun playing with the infinite window-ception in my capture software after I had proceeded to kill the game with fire.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-xsplit-broadcaster.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/superman-64/superman-64-xsplit-broadcaster.jpg" alt="Superman 64 Xsplit Broadcaster" title="Superman 64 Xsplit Broadcaster" class="image" height="469" width="600" /></a></div>
<p>I score this heap:</p>
<p>What idiot thought this was a good idea/10</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>-This is Tucker, <em>clocking</em>&nbsp;<em>out.</em></p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/clocking-out/superman-64#commentssuperman 64supermanactionn64Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000Tyler Smith686 at http://firsthour.netOur Five Year Anniversary - Revisiting God of War IIhttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/our-five-year-anniversary-revisiting-god-of-war-2
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--break-->
<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">God of War II</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="God of War II Cover" title="God of War II Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Hacking and slashing, for five years</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Yes, still</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000G6SPHI?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Five years ago I played about sixty minutes of the beginning of <a href="/first-hour-review/god-of-war-2"><strong>God
of War II</strong></a> and was impressed by how quickly the action ramps up and how
the momentum is carried throughout. Big action set pieces like the
Colossus battle and flying on Pegasus made for an extremely memorable
first hour, and still one of the best. At that moment I made a decision
that I suppose in some ways has changed my life: I reset the PS2,
grabbed a pen and notebook, and started playing God of War II over
again.</p>
<p>Five years later and a <a href="/first-hour-review">full ten days worth of first hour
reviews written by me and a half-dozen other writers</a>, we're back to
where it all began. I imagine this is a one-time event, I'm not sure
there's really much left to point out in the game's first hour that I
didn't the first time, but the timing is fun. I've always measured first
hours in how many "days" have passed, with <a href="/recap">24 first hour reviews
representing a day</a>. Since this is review 240, the end of day ten, I
couldn't really pass up the opportunity.</p>
<p>The review format hasn't
changed a lot in five years, even then I was keeping track of "minutes
to action", but I don't give scores anymore, focusing instead on what
really matters: would I keep playing beyond the first hour? Fellow
writer <a href="/first-hour-review/f-zero-gx">Nate has developed his own first hour review format</a>, and from now
on I'll be moving more towards that. It's very time consuming to detail
every minute of action, and I'm not sure if it's entirely valuable to
the reader, so things will be changing for me as a critic, I'm still not
entirely sure what it will look like.</p>
<p>But somehow my little
review site has survived five years without much trouble, or attention,
for that matter. But that's okay with me, soon after I began writing
regularly about a subject I actually enjoyed, I realized I loved doing
it and the number of readers or amount of money I was making was far
less important than the fact that I was putting my thoughts and ideas on
paper.</p>
<p>So thank you to all readers, fans, and critics over the
last five years. You have turned a curiosity into a hobby into a
passion.</p>
<h2>Minute by Minute</h2>
<p><span class="minute-counter">00</span> - I select New Game and the first hour of God of War II begins (again). I leave the difficulty at Spartan, and a woman tells the story of Kratos and how he’s been deserted by the other gods after defeating Ares. Athena tells Kratos that the gods are starting to hate him.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">01</span> - Kratos heads to Rhodes to deliver the final blow on the city, he’s gigantic! But he’s zapped by some magic and is made normal sized again, and the Colossus of Rhodes is brought to life!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">02</span> - The Colossus starts walking and I gain control, fighting with some twerps immediately begins. The Colossus is in the background trying to get in on the action.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kratos-colossus-of-rhodes-fight.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kratos-colossus-of-rhodes-fight-thumb.jpg" alt="god of war 2 Kratos Colossus of Rhodes Fight" title="god of war 2 Kratos Colossus of Rhodes Fight" class="image" height="420" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">03</span> - Fighting consists of hitting the Square button a lot.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">04</span> - I fling open a gate and continue on, the Colossus follows my every move.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">05</span> - He finally pops his hand through to say hello, smashing some of the bad guys.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">06</span> - I’m outside now in full view of the Colossus, I dodge an attack and smack his hand a few times, then catapult a boulder at him but he simply catches it in his giant hand.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">08</span> - I then attempt to launch Kratos but he catches me too and throws me against a wall. Ouch.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kratos-colossus-of-rhodes-2.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kratos-colossus-of-rhodes-2.jpg" alt="god of war 2 Kratos Colossus of Rhodes 2" title="god of war 2 Kratos Colossus of Rhodes 2" class="image" height="420" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">09</span> - Fool me once... using the ballista again doesn’t result in anything different. Until you knock him out, that is! When he’s dazed, I launch myself at him kicking off a quick time event attack which results in Kratos stabbing his eyeball. He tosses me across the city and I land in a palace of some sorts.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">11</span> - Oh, I remember this part! Knocking over a screen reveals two topless women in a pool. Yeah, I’ll try out this quick time event. The camera pans over to a statue of a kid peeing and his stream mimics... Kratos.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">13</span> - Time to move on, quick time event indeed!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">14</span> - After some swimming around to cool the head, I save my game and learn how to grapple across pits.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">16</span> - The Colossus is back! This time he shoves his foot through the wall.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kid-statue.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kid-statue.jpg" alt="god of war 2 kid Statue" title="god of war 2 kid Statue" class="image" height="360" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">17</span> - Cool, I don’t know where to go... Oh, I have to climb the wall. Thanks for not making that obvious at all.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">19</span> - Cinematic camera turns on as I circle the Colossus and learn how to unleash a lightning magic attack! Oooh.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">20</span> - After zapping him enough, another QTE kicks off with me... scratching his cheek. Why not take out the other eyeball?</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">21</span> - My first YOU ARE DEAD! Cheap death as the Colossus knocked me in the water as I was swinging across platforms. Full health death!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">23</span> - And to add insult to injury I fail the cheek scratching QTE.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">26</span> - After successfully pulling off the QTE two more times, the Colossus now has two big glowing X’s on each cheek from my Athena Blades. But he’s caught me in his clutches! More quick time eventing to escape.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-quick-time-event.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-quick-time-event.jpg" alt="god of war 2 Quick Time Event" title="god of war 2 Quick Time Event" class="image" height="368" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">27</span> - Colossus throws me across town again, into another palace. How convenient for our hero. I save and continue through the maze of this building.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">29</span> - Just in case you forgot I was playing a video game, I’m forced to move a giant box on top of a switch to keep a gate open.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">33</span> - I also just pulled off a 145 hit combo, so there’s that.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">34</span> - After an elevator ride, the Colossus reappears! Suddenly Zues chimes in from the heavens and offers me a giant sword, The Blade of Olympus. “Drain your godly powers into the sword.” It’s a trap!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">36</span> - Before the obvious trick, I actually have to run to the sword and fight through more bad guys.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">37</span> - And even though I’m still a god, I have to do this really obnoxious slow creep over some narrow walkways. Awful.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-archers-palace.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-archers-palace.jpg" alt="god of war 2 Archers Palace" title="god of war 2 Archers Palace" class="image" height="360" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">41</span> - I drain my power in the sword, but the Colossus keeps hitting me before I can pick it up. Oh, magic will knock him down again. This time I drain my blue magic bar into the sword.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">43</span> - Finally hit him twice in this third round... ugh, I must be getting bad at games.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">44</span> - YOU ARE DEAD!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">45</span> - Time for the whole power draining thing again.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">48</span> - I finally drain most of my life bar and obtain the sword! After some slashing at his wrist, I jump inside the Colossus.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">49</span> - YOU ARE DEAD! Fall to my death.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-big-collosus-of-rhodes.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-big-collosus-of-rhodes.jpg" alt="god of war 2 big Collosus of Rhodes" title="god of war 2 big Collosus of Rhodes" class="image" height="357" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">50</span> - I stab my sword into some internal magical mechanism and wreck havoc!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">52</span> - YOU ARE DEAD! Obnoxious, cheap fall. Game sure isn’t making it clear where to go.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">53</span> - Oh, I had to slash at some chains before I could hit R1. Yuck.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">54</span> - Shimmying, I hate shimmying.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">57</span> - YOU ARE DEAD! Got zapped by the internal workings of the Colossus.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">59</span> - YOU ARE DEAD! Well, I figured out the puzzle of sorts, but still died.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">60</span> - I strike another blow to the Colossus’ inside and escape out of its mouth as it blows up! Kratos starts showboating and gets crushed by the giant’s death throes. I lose the sword, my armor, and all my godly powers. That’s the end of the first hour of God of War II, again.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kratos-bloody-gryphon.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/god-of-war-2/god-of-war-2-kratos-bloody-gryphon.jpg" alt="god of war 2 Kratos Bloody Gryphon" title="god of war 2 Kratos Bloody Gryphon" class="image" height="425" width="480" /></a></div>
<h2>First Hour Summary</h2>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 2</p>
<p><strong>Bias</strong>: Well, the first time I played this game five year ago, I loved it enough to start an entire website around the concept, so... I obviously went in with pretty high hopes. Minus the fact that I gave up on the game a few hours later, I have much respect for God of War II.</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> Wow, five years ago this was a resounding “hell yes!”, but now it’s a much more tepid “sure”. Five years is a long time when it comes to video games, even longer for 3D action titles from an entire generation ago. Game design has improved immeasurably over the years and I couldn’t help but think that the climbing stuff sure would have been improved a lot with some <a href="/first-hour-review/assassins-creed">Assassin’s Creed</a> influence and that whoever put the tiptoe sections in a game like this should have been fired.</p>
<p>God of War II was just a lot more frustrating this time around, cheap deaths abound and all the platforming sections made me want to rip my hair out. I also ran about 10 minutes behind my original first hour, which I chalk up to having just started the game an hour before and replaying the starting sections immediately for taking notes. This is part of the reason I’ve stopped playing first hours of games I’ve already beaten, too much bias going in for one, but knowing the ins and outs of a title easily give you the upper hand.</p>
<p>But it was still a fun first hour, if not as smooth sailing as I originally remember it. But like I said, games have changed a lot in five years. Design choices made then and praised as being groundbreaking may well be laughed out of the meeting room now.</p>
<h2>Now What?</h2>
<p>Replaying the first hour of God of War II has made me think more than I expected about the video game industry and how our opinions change. I really thought I would go into this game and just love the hell out of it all over again, but that wasn’t true at all. Is it really that gaming has changed so much, or have I? Have my expectations for a game become so lofty that I can’t even really enjoy the original game that spawned everything?</p>
<p>Maybe I’m being too introspective, but this milestone was meant to just be good old fun; now I’m having a bit of a crisis in understanding what truly makes for a great first hour of a video game. After personally playing and reviewing 146 first hours, you would think I would have a better understanding. It just probably wasn’t a good idea to replay something I had placed so high on a pedestal five years later. I’ll say this right now: this is never happening again.</p>
<p>So where to now? Another 240 first hour reviews is probably a good place to start. More full reviews of games, more varied content from video game-based TV shows, books, and movies, and hopefully I can improve my writing and critical review skills even more over the years. Looking back at my writing style and skill five years ago makes me cringe a bit, but it pleases me that putting a million words down on paper does help accomplish something.</p>
<p>Thanks again for reading, here’s to another five years.</p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/our-five-year-anniversary-revisiting-god-of-war-2#commentsday tengod of war 2god of waractionps2shimmyingThu, 12 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe680 at http://firsthour.netMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriotshttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--break-->
<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Cover" title="Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">PlayStation 3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Stealthy action movie</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">25</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Ehh... no</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FQ2D5E?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I’ve always enjoyed the crazy and convoluted stories of the <a href="/series/metal-gear-solid"><strong>Metal
Gear Solid series</strong></a>, even when the controls seem to be fighting against me
instead of cooperating. I’ve played the series on the PS1, PS2,
GameCube, and Xbox, and with every release both the story and controls
become more complex. So in some ways I’m very excited to finally be able
to play <a href="/full-review/metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots"><strong>Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots</strong></a>, but at the same time
I’m leery that it’s going to be a mess of bad aiming and Snake behaving
badly.</p>
<p>Released over four years ago(!), Metal Gear Solid 4 puts us
back in Solid Snake’s shoes in a war-torn future where armies for hire
are the norm. It’s a disturbing vision, but if anyone can sell it, it’s
Hideo Kojima and his team at Konami.</p>
<p>The game has sold very well
and was a major critical darling. Heck, one of our very own writers gave
it a 10/10 a few years back. Needless to say, this has been on my
to-play list for many years. Here’s hoping the first hour lives up to my
hype.</p>
<h2>Minute by Minute</h2>
<p><span class="minute-counter">00</span> - I select New Game and the first hour of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots begins. I leave the difficulty at Solid Normal, which is the second hardest. A quick loading screen and then we’re off to... some game show?</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">01</span> - What the hell is this? It’s a live action game show like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? I’m really confused, it’s obviously some sort of Metal Gear Solid related thing, but seriously, what the hell?</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">02</span> - Well, our contestant gets a question wrong about private military companies and then the game moves on to something maybe weirder? Now it’s a bunch of models with guns being twirled around by a giant octopus.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">03</span> - I think the game is actually starting now? An unattributed quote appears onscreen: “In the not too distant future. On a tired battlefield. War has become routine.” And then we get the opening credits while a war-torn desert town is shown.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">04</span> - Some trucks with soldiers roll through and Snake’s voice comes on: “War has changed.” Sort of the opposite of <a href="/first-hour-review/fallout-3"><strong>Fallout</strong>’s “war never changes”</a> slogan.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-LaspM95z8A" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">05</span> - Snake goes on to describe how things have changed: nanomachines, genetic control, ID’d guns, “everything is monitored, and kept under controlled.”</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">06</span> - After muttering “war has changed” a few more times, we see a bunch of soldiers in a huge firefight while Snake sort of slinks around. He throws his gun down after taking a few shots, and then more scenes of the battle are shown.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">07</span> - The typical but complex looking user interface of the Metal Gear Solid series appears and I gain control. I run around trying to figure out where to go before Otacon comes on my comm to tell me to crawl. Another cutscene kicks off immediately.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">09</span> - Snake rolls around like a little kid and I regain control, Otacon chimes in again to tell me how to select and shoot weapons. It’s as confusing as ever. I end up picking up a dead soldier instead of selecting my rifle.</p>
<p>“Don’t forget Snake, this is still a sneaking mission.” No idea why I’m sneaking through a battlefield like this, who am I hiding from?</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">10</span> - A cow moos and the battle stops, suddenly a bunch of two-legged mechs jump in crushing some soldiers and obliterating the rest. Guys are literally throwing down their guns they’re so afraid.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">11</span> - Have control again, Otacon tells me to not run into any “Gekko”. I run 20 feet and another cutscene kicks off. Those Gekkos actually bleed red when shot, coupled with their weird mooing and I’m getting kind of suspicious.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-gekko.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-gekko-thumb.jpg" alt="Metal Gear Solid 4 Gekko" title="Metal Gear Solid 4 Gekko" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">13</span> - Snake cape flies off as he runs from a Gekko, another one joins the chase and the game makes you think he’s going to hide in a cardboard box, but he instead uses some super camouflage to hide.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">14</span> - The Gekko crush the red herring box, revealing a bunch of watermelon. They jump away leaving Snake to himself. “Metal Gear Solid 4” flashes onscreen.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">16</span> - Snake spends a few minutes slowly checking out a gun to let the rest of the credits run, and then I save my game.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">17</span> - A "three days earlier" flashback starts with Snake in a cemetery saluting a gravestone, not sure whose (someone from <a href="/first-hour-review/metal-gear-solid-3"><strong>Metal Gear Solid 3</strong></a>?), but Otacon shows up in a helicopter to whisk him away. Snake asks about some test results, and gets a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Snake thinks he has a year at best to live.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">20</span> - Snake finally climbs in the helicopter and former colonel Roy Campbell is inside. Not sure if we’ve ever actually seen him in person? Either way, he says “we’ve found him, in the Middle East.” Must be Liquid Snake. Yep, Otacon confirms.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">22</span> - New scene, some girl is cracking eggs over a skillet and mentions Solidus and then recites a bunch of numbers. So weird.</p>
<p>Act 1 - Liquid Sun.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-solid-snake-saluting-cemetery.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-solid-snake-saluting-cemetery-thumb.jpg" alt="Metal Gear Solid 4 Solid Snake Saluting Cemetery" title="Metal Gear Solid 4 Solid Snake Saluting Cemetery" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">23</span> - Back to the present, Otacon is calling on Snake’s codec. They discuss the Gekkos and how there are too many of them for what the situation calls for. The Mk.II is also introduced, some little robot thing that will help me out.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">25</span> - Otacon says that with my camo I shouldn’t need to get into a fight, yeah, let’s see how that goes. I crawl through the battlefield trying to figure out who I should be hiding from, apparently anyone and everyone as I’m spotted.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">26</span> - The exclamation point goes off and reinforcements are sent in. I try to crawl back into a tunnel but they know I’m there and toss grenades in after me. My stress level is rising (in game and real life).</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">28</span> - Just running around like crazy now, guns blazing. The anti-Metal Gear Solid.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">30</span> - After almost ending the Alert sequence, more bad guys find my position, back to shooting.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">32</span> - My camo totally just fooled a guy five feet away, nice. Until I try to sneak behind him and he notices me. I’ve now reached some sort of dead end, can’t figure out where to go, Alert is still going off. I check my map but it doesn’t really help me. More waiting out the Alert and Caution phase now.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-snake-pop-out-shot.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-snake-pop-out-shot-thumb.jpg" alt="Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake pop out Shot" title="Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake pop out Shot" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">34</span> - Eight minutes later and I’m finally free to explore again without having the tense chase music playing. Still haven’t figured out where to go yet, though.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">36</span> - Finally find a ladder that triggers a cutscene of Snake meeting the Metal Gear Mk.II robot. (Metal Gear?!) What classifies a robot as a Metal Gear at this point?</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">38</span> - The Mk.II is fully loaded with guns and gadgets, including the Solid Eye, which gives Snake night vision and other optic bonuses.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">40</span> - I now have proper radar at my disposal, and the battle around me is at full force again.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">41</span> - Just failed at who I was hiding from. I started shooting at what everyone else around me was shooting at and the people next to me noticed me and started chasing me! What the heck? I run away and the game starts loading something... looks like I’ve escaped.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">43</span> - Inside some dark structure now, using the Solid Eye’s night vision to see. Time for some sneaking. I’m really sucking at this whole kill people from behind without them noticing.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-old-snake-gun-knife.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-old-snake-gun-knife-thumb.jpg" alt="Metal Gear Solid 4 old Snake gun Knife" title="Metal Gear Solid 4 old Snake gun Knife" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">46</span> - Ouch! Snake dies after being spotted and being shot in the head. Otacon: “Snake, you can’t die! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!” I lose a few minutes of progress but it should go quicker.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">51</span> - Caught up to where I died, but now my Solid Eye has run out of battery, lame. More of me failing to properly sneak follows.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">55</span> - I finally finish running around the complex and a cutscene kicks off with Snake finding some monkey wearing underwear and drinking soda. Odd.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">56</span> - Some guy who looks like Dennis Rodman introduces himself as Drebin, a weapons wholesaler. His weapons don’t have ID matching so anyone can use them.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">58</span> - Snake fawns over a gun, but can’t use it because his nanomachines are so last generation.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">60</span> - Drebin and Snake are still talking, and then Otacon chimes in that Drebin is legit.</p>
<p>Oh man, the first hour of Metal Gear Solid 4 ends right when Snake mentions the Patriots.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-snake-sniper-rifle.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/metal-gear-solid-4/metal-gear-solid-4-snake-sniper-rifle-thumb.jpg" alt="Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake Sniper Rifle" title="Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake Sniper Rifle" class="image" height="348" width="480" /></a></div>
<h2>First Hour Summary</h2>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 25</p>
<p><strong>Bias</strong>: I love this series but I knew this wasn’t going to go well. I’ve actually played pretty much the exact amount of content about four years ago when the game was released on my brother-in-law’s PlayStation 3, got bored during the Drebin conversation and moved on to something else.</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> No... if I wasn’t such a fan of the games. Metal Gear Solid 4 probably features the worst first five minutes of any video game I’ve ever played, I still have no idea what I watched. It honestly surprised and confused me so much I felt a little disgusted when the actual well-made and relevant cutscenes began. I’m actually a little torn right now because I don’t know if I want to sit through another cutscene heavy game right now.</p>
<p>The game commits a lot of first hour sins: it’s extremely cutscene heavy, doesn’t let you actually do anything interesting for 25 whole minutes, tells you in vague voiceovers how to do things (“press the action button!”), and is just downright confusing sometimes on where to go and who to hide from. Most of it left a bland taste in my mouth.</p>
<p>I generally come away satisfied with games that either deliver a powerful first few minutes or have a great action set-piece near the end of the first hour. Metal Gear Solid 4 delivered neither and suffered. But hey, it did open with a bizarre and irrelevant game show and end with a guy talking about nanomachines and the war economy.</p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots#commentsday tenmetal gear solid 4 guns of the patriotsmetal gear solidactionstealthps3Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe683 at http://firsthour.netUncharted 2: Among Thieveshttp://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/uncharted-2-among-thieves
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<table class="infobox">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="gamename" colspan="2">Uncharted 2</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td class="infoboximage" colspan="2"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-cover.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-cover-thumb.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Cover" title="Uncharted 2 Cover" style="vertical-align: middle;" class="infobox_image" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox">Platforms</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">PlayStation 3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Genre</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Cinematic heist</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="leftinfobox"><a class="mta">MtA<span>Minutes to Action</span></a></th>
<td class="rightinfobox">2</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th class="leftinfobox">Keep Playing?</th>
<td class="rightinfobox">Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th class="centerinfobox" colspan="2"><a class="amazonlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002I0F5I2?tag=thfiho0a-20" target="_blank">Buy from Amazon</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Let’s get right to the point, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncharted_2:_Among_Thieves"><strong>Uncharted 2: Among Thieves</strong></a> is one of
the most critically acclaimed games of this generation. I don’t usually
put a lot of trust in Metacritic, but it has a <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/uncharted-2-among-thieves">score of 96</a> over there
with over 100 positive reviews, and not a single mixed or negative score
to contrast. I can only marvel at that, and then I see that <a href="/first-hour-review/grand-theft-auto-4"><strong>Grand Theft
Auto IV</strong></a> has a score of 98 and I can only shrug at the idea of critical
consensus.</p>
<p>Playing the <a href="/series/uncharted"><strong>Uncharted</strong> series</a> was high on my list for
when I finally obtained a PlayStation 3, and while I never considered
not playing <a href="/first-hour-review/uncharted-drakes-fortune"><strong>Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune</strong></a>, it seemed many gamers thought it
was rather skippable, especially with Uncharted 2 available. In the
end, <a href="/full-review/uncharted-drakes-fortune">yes, it is skippable</a>, but if we only ever played excellent games,
we would never be able to recognize them for what they are. I have my
list of faults the first one suffered from and am hoping they are all
fixed with Among Thieves.</p>
<p>So let’s get right down to the first
hour of Uncharted 2, a game which <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0q3qcLkw1A">advertised you’d be able to fool your
girlfriend into thinking she was watching a movie</a> (this would be a
massive eyeroll if it wasn’t for Kevin Butler). So pop the popcorn and
roll the film.</p>
<h2>Minute by Minute</h2>
<p><span class="minute-counter">00</span> - I select New Game and the first hour of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves begins. I set the difficulty to Normal, create a save, and the loading begins. The game opens with a quote:</p>
<p>“I did not tell half of what I saw for I knew I would not be believed...” - Marco Polo on his deathbed.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">01</span> - We immediately open to Drake in a sticky situation, bleeding heavily from his chest in what looks like a broken down airplane. A nice camera tricks shows we’re actually hanging from a dangling train car and we take a tumble... Nathan Drake catches himself at the last moment, of course, before we meet an icy death at the bottom of a ravine. My job is to now climb up train car.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">02</span> - Controls are pretty friendly while climbing, and the game makes several big camera pans to show how bad the situation really is. Among Thieves is certainly attempting to be at least as cinematic as the previous game.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">04</span> - I direct Drake inside the train, but am almost immediately flung out through a window. I have no idea how this guy is still holding on after apparently losing so much blood from the initial crash.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-snow-train-crash.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-snow-train-crash-thumb.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Snow Train Crash" title="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Snow Train Crash" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">05</span> - I reach the last horizontally level car, and in a great scene, make a perfectly timed run as the two cars fall off the mountain with me jumping out at the last moment. Nice! Now a flashback of Drake in a much warmer climate having a drink when an old friend shows up.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">06</span> - Unsurprisingly, his friend has a “job” for Drake, something to do with Marco Polo. Drake says the jobs will require three, and Chloe, the obvious femme fatale appears just in time.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">08</span> - We’re pulling some heist job, Drake doesn’t think it’s worth the effort, but an old document written in Marco Polo’s hand connects some dots in his head and all of a sudden he’s gung-ho. “What could possibly go wrong?”</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">09</span> - Cut back to Drake lying nearly unconscious on the side of a cliff in snowy weather, and there you have it. I’m now weaving my way through the crashed train cars, trying to find an exit. The game is clever in that it never makes your next step totally obvious, but will subtly push you in the right direction.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">11</span> - I’ve got a gun now, so that means shooting off padlocks... and bad guys, apparently? Drake doesn’t seem totally surprised to see people trying to shoot him and yelling “he’s alive!”, but I sure am. Drake is knocked out again a few moments later by a rolling train car.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">13</span> - Cut back to the past, this time with Drake sneaking Chloe into his room. Sounds like Drake walked out on the heist job when he found out his old friend Flynn and Chloe were sleeping together. She’s here trying to get me back... through sexy means.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-chloe-frazer-nathan-drake.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-chloe-frazer-nathan-drake.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Chloe Frazer Nathan Drake" title="Uncharted 2 Chloe Frazer Nathan Drake" class="image" height="287" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">15</span> - Back to the present, the car I’m in is, once again, precariously hanging off the cliff. Nathan Drake has both the best and worst luck.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">16</span> - Didn’t have to climb as far, as a cutscene kicks off with Drake stumbling through the snow and picking up some golden idol on the way. It kicks off another flashback to four months ago in Istanbul, for the heist. Drake and Flynn joke on the boat as Chloe drives. Chloe is the getaway and support, and Drake and Flynn are breaking in together.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">19</span> - I now have control in the flashback, Drake and Flynn banter back and forth as I struggle to shimmy up walls. The pair work together as they climb through the sewer to access the target museum from underneath.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">22</span> - This sequence is a bit too long for my taste, especially after the multi-minute train climb.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">24</span> - Either way, we’ve made it inside the museum and are now sneaking around, disabling guards with easy to execute sleeper moves.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">25</span> - Flynn and Drake communicating makes it a bit easier for me to figure out where to climb to next, I like working together, breaks up the tedium of sneaking.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-museum-heist-nathan-drake-harry-flynn.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-museum-heist-nathan-drake-harry-flynn.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Museum Heist Nathan Drake Harry Flynn" title="Uncharted 2 Museum Heist Nathan Drake Harry Flynn" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">30</span> - We’re now sneaking through a large corridor, with multiple routes to take... oh oh, just got caught. Alarms went off, but the game rewinds to a few moments back.h</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">31</span> - Caught again trying to grab someone from a ledge above me, didn’t work as expected. And again, trying the same move. I’m pretty sure this should work.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">32</span> - Taking a good look around the room this time to see if I’ve missed something, obvious route seems to be to take out the guy on the ledge from below. Oh, the takedown move worked but I was caught by another guard.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">34</span> - Okay, I’m gold this time. Not sure what went wrong the first two times. After a bit more hopping around, Flynn pulls out two tranquilizer guns for popping the guards. Flynn helps to shoot, too.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">37</span> - More jumping, shimmying, and shooting.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">39</span> - Couldn’t we have snuck in more directly under our final destination? This is a pretty long sneak-in sequence with a dozen guards knocked out already.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-punch.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-punch-thumb.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Punch" title="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Punch" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">40</span> - Pretty sure Nathan Drake just killed an innocent security guard by pulling him off the roof of the building and tossing him into water a hundred feet below. I know that this is the guy who kills hundreds of gun-toting natives without batting an eye, but this guard probably has a family.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">42</span> - We finally make it to the tower holding our prize, and Flynn and I run in.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">42</span> - Drake grabs the lamp we were looking for and smashes it for a hidden note inside. The note appears empty until Drake does some fancy stuff to make blue fire so he can read the inscription and map. It’s information on Marco Polo’s lost fleet near Borneo.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">45</span> - Wow, this is unexpected (sarcasm). Flynn pulls up the rope leaving Drake behind. Well, first he shoots a display case setting off the alarms. Our man appears screwed, but I regain control anyway.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">46</span> - Red lasers everywhere indicate I’ve got about a dozen snipers trained on my position, so I’m forced to roll everywhere as that apparently shakes them off. Drake dives back into the sewer underneath, but there are guards here too. In a few moments, we’re caught!</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">48</span> - Flashforward in the flashback but not all the way to the present, Nathan Drake is locked up in a Turkish prison. Either he’s gone insane or is just really, really bored, but he’s making hand puppets reliving his last moments with Flynn as he was backstabbed. It looks sad, but then Sully shows up!</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-victor-sullivan-chloe.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-victor-sullivan-chloe.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Victor Sullivan Chloe" title="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Victor Sullivan Chloe" class="image" height="270" width="480" /></a></div>
<p><span class="minute-counter">49</span> - And Chloe is here too, though Drake is not happy to see her. He thinks she betrayed him too, but she insists Flynn was betraying alone. Sully and Chloe update me on the situation: Marco Polo’s ships have been found but they haven’t found the Chintamani Stone, whatever that is.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">50</span> - The trio is working out a plan to find said stone, so they’re going to break into Flynn’s boss’ campsite so they can steal some important files.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">52</span> - Jump forward in time again (still in the flashback) to the jungle camp where Flynn is. Drake and Sully are going to be setting charges that Chloe planted previously.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">53</span> - Sully says we should take out some bad guys quietly, but as I fumble around trying to even see them, they spot me and a firefight begins. Shooting is heavily cover based and feels very much like the original Uncharted. Not a bad thing.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">57</span> - Shooting through jungle camp continues, no time to look for the explosives.</p>
<p><span class="minute-counter">60</span> - Jungle finally clear, off to look for explosives... but that’s the end of the first hour of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves!</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-jungle-fighting.jpg"><img src="/screenshots/uncharted-2/uncharted-2-nathan-drake-jungle-fighting-thumb.jpg" alt="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Jungle Fighting" title="Uncharted 2 Nathan Drake Jungle Fighting" class="image" height="272" width="480" /></a></div>
<h2>First Hour Summary</h2>
<p><strong>Minutes to Action</strong>: 2</p>
<p><strong>Bias</strong>: Well, as I noted in the introduction this game was pretty well received, it’s hard to ignore that kind of success. But I had some issues with the first Uncharted, even if it was an above average game, so I’m looking for some improvements in the series.</p>
<p><strong>Would I Keep Playing?</strong> Yes, you almost can’t go wrong with a heist opening the game, plus the cinematic feel for the game from the way the scenes are arranged to the camera angle has me quite intrigued. I wouldn’t really say that Uncharted 2 is a lot better than the original so far, but it certainly hasn’t done any worse, in my book. Of course, I thought the first hour of Drake’s Fortune went rather splendid too.</p>
<p>Controls were probably my biggest issue, as they hindered the game’s cinematic feel and reminded me that, yes, I really am playing a game and not watching a movie. Drake still isn’t as responsive as I’d like and leapt in the wrong direction more than once, not to mention the multiple times the game failed to register that behind the back kill in the museum. Nothing is more frustrating than seemingly doing the right thing and still failing, over and over.</p>
<p>I do like how Naughty Dog integrates real life people and events into their fictional stories, Sir Francis Drake isn’t very well known, but Marco Polo sure is. I’m excited to see what kind of craziness they inject into their alternate history this time. Hopefully not some sort of undead/cave creature again though. Please!</p><!-- google_ad_section_end -->http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/uncharted-2-among-thieves#commentsday tenuncharted 2unchartedactionps3Fri, 06 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000Greg Noe682 at http://firsthour.net